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Thousands of tents provided to displaced Palestinians in Gaza by certain countries are unfit for harsh winter weather and do not adequately protect against rain and wind, the Guardian reported.
The assessment said storms that hit the enclave in recent weeks have torn down or damaged thousands of tents, affecting about 235,000 people, according to U.N. estimates.
The assessment by the Palestine Shelter Cluster, which coordinates the work of hundreds of humanitarian organizations, said many newly delivered tents will likely need to be replaced because of poor materials, weak structure and the absence of waterproofing and flooring, as well as design flaws that cause rainwater to pool on top of the tents.
According to the report by Jason Burke in Jerusalem and Siham Tantoush in Gaza, the findings raised questions about the quality of aid delivered directly to Gaza outside the U.N. framework.
Despite Israeli authorities’ stated support for winter preparedness measures and their approval for limited quantities of tents and tarpaulins to enter, aid organizations and residents said commercially available tents are expensive and not suited to the climatic conditions.
Most of Gaza’s roughly 2.3 million residents have been repeatedly displaced since the war began in October 2023, amid widespread destruction of infrastructure and severe shortages of basic supplies and services.
With hopes for reconstruction fading after the ceasefire, the humanitarian crisis is continuing under a new regime and restrictions on the work of aid organizations.
Israeli officials say the new system is intended to “streamline the humanitarian framework” so that aid and humanitarian platforms are not exploited by Hamas, while aid officials say the consequences would be catastrophic.
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